System and method for tracking content in a medicine container

ABSTRACT

A medicine container includes a controller and a scale connected with the controller. The scale is configured to measure a weight of a content contained in the medicine container. An inertial measurement unit connects with the controller. The inertial measurement unit is configured to detect a position of the medicine container. The controller is configured to process the position information to ensure that the container is located in an upright position before the weight measurement is considered.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 as a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/117,256entitled “System and Method for Tracking Content in a MedicineContainer,” filed on Aug. 30, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/995,653, filed Jan. 14, 2016, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/105,966,filed Jan. 21, 2015, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Some solutions have been proposed for tracking and/or motivating usagefrom medicines containers including medication bottles and trays. Oneproduct produces a glowing light alert to remind patients to takemedication at specific intervals. The product communicates with a homebase station and use may be limited outside a controlled environment ofthe home base station. There are also various electronic pill dispensersystems that require a special medication tray to be programmed tocreate a reminder alert periodically and dispense one pill at a time.The trays cannot be used for liquids.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example medicine container.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of example circuit components for tracking thecontents of the medicine container.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example system for transferring image,weight and other data to and/or from the medicine container.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example process for using the medicinecontainer.

DESCRIPTION

Tracking the usage of contents in a container, e.g., one in whichmedication is delivered, can be useful. The embodiments include acircuit that is capable of taking, storing, and transmitting suchinformation upon registering cap opening and closing events. Theembodiments are capable of automatically collecting usage information ofthe container while meeting form factor requirements. The embodiments donot require continuous communication with a home base, making thecontainer portable.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example container 100, e.g., a medicinecontainer. The container 100 can include a bottle, a tray, etc. forcontaining medicine. For sake of explanation, in one example thecontainer 100 can include a bottle 102 portion and a cap 104 portion.The bottle 102 can be implemented with a tray or other type of containerand the cap 104 can be implemented as a lid, for example. In oneexample, the bottle includes a wall 103. The cap 104 is shown positionedon and off the bottle 102. Within the cap 104 is positioned a circuit106 including circuit components 108. The circuit 106 can include one ormore separate layers, e.g., layers a and b. For example, the circuit 106can include a multi-board, two-layer printed circuit board (PCB) designto fit within the cap 104.

The container 100 can be used for holding content 110, e.g.,medicaments. The content 110 can exist in different forms, e.g., pills,liquid, etc. The circuit components 108 can communicate informationabout the contents, e.g., to a server 114 or a communication device 112,e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, a computer, an access point, a router,etc. The container 100 can include a scale 116. The scale 116 can bepositioned at a bottom of the container 100, for example, for measuringthe content 110. The scale 116 can be wirelessly connected to the cap104, and/or connected by a wire 118, e.g., a flat-flex cable routedthrough the wall 103 of the container 100. The wire 118 can also connectwith a charging station 120, e.g., for recharging the circuit components108 of the cap 104. Additionally or alternatively, the container 100 canbe charged wirelessly.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of example circuit components 108 for trackingthe contents 110 of the container 100. The circuit components 108 caninclude a camera 203, a controller circuit 202, a dataflow manager 204,a volatile memory 206, a nonvolatile memory 205, a communication element207, a power source 201, a scale 116, a sensor 211, a real-time clock212, a charging circuitry 213, and an inertial measurement unit 214 aswell as other peripherals, etc. The inertial measurement unit 214 caninclude an accelerometer and a gyroscope, etc. More or less than theillustrated components can be used, e.g., based on an implementation.For example, in some implementations, the dataflow manager 204 and thevolatile memory 106 are not included, and the controller 202 connectswith the nonvolatile memory 205. While illustrated in the cap 104, thecircuit components 108 can be located in the cap 104, the bottle 102, orboth the cap 104 and the bottle 102.

The camera 203, or other image sensor, can be positioned to view thecontent 110 of the bottle 102 and take a picture of the content 110 adetermined time period after the sensor 211 is triggered. The camera 203can produce an image that includes one or more of a video or a photo,etc., in greyscale, black and white, color and infrared (IR), etc.,depending on an implementation, power constraints, etc. The sensor 211can determine, for example by measuring forces on the cap 104, when thecap 104 is opened from the bottle 102 and replaced on the bottle 102. Anexample of a mechanism to identify cap opening and closing events is apushbutton that is depressed when the cap is closed, triggering capclosed event, and released, triggering cap removal event, when the capis opened. The opening and closing of the cap 104 can generate aninterrupt for the controller 202, which triggers the controller 202 toperform further actions, e.g., image capturing, time capturing, weightcapturing, circuit wakeup and sleep, communications, etc., as describedin more detail below. The controller 202 can process positioninformation received from the inertial measurement unit 214 to ensurethat the container is located in a determined position, e.g., upright,before instructing the scale 116 to take a weight measurement, or beforethe weight measurement sent to the controller 202 by the scale 116 isconsidered. The controller 202 can also be programmed to take actions ona pre-specified schedule.

The time period after the controller 202 determines that the sensor 211detects the cap 102 has been place on the bottle 102, the controller 202activates the camera 203 to take a picture of the content 110. Thedataflow manager 204 if there is one can buffer the image from thecamera 203 into the volatile memory 206. The image is then transferredto the non-volatile memory 205. Additionally, weight informationregarding the content 110 and a timestamp of the weighing, e.g., asdetermined by the scale 116 located at a bottom of the bottle 102 andthe real-time clock 212, can also be stored in the nonvolatile memory205. If there is no dataflow manager 204, when the controller 202receives the image, weight and timestamp information, the controller 202transfers the information to non-volatile memory 205. Once thecontroller 202 establishes a connection, e.g., either wired orwirelessly, the communication element 207 can send the image data andweight information, and the timestamp to the communication device 112and/or the server 114.

To conserve power from the power source 201, the container 100 can benormally in a low-power state. For example, the only component that ispowered is the controller 202, which itself is in a deep sleep waitingfor a triggering event. The controller 202 can initiate othercomponents, e.g., camera 203, communication element 207, volatile memory206, non-volatile memory 205, etc. to enter stand-by, low power or sleepstates, battery recharging, etc.

Once the event occurs, e.g., opening of the 104 cap, the controller 202can power the other devices. When the cap 104 is closed, a picture istaken to capture an image. A light emitting diode (LED) or other flashcan be used to illuminate dark conditions. The image is transferredthrough the dataflow manager 204 to the volatile memory 206. Once thetransfer of image, weight, and other usage related information to thevolatile memory 206 is complete, the information can be transferred fromvolatile memory 206 to the nonvolatile memory 205. The information canbe stored in the nonvolatile memory until a connection is available. Thecontainer 100 is put to sleep until a communication channel isestablished, or a new event, e.g. reopening of the cap 104, istriggered. In one example, while in sleep mode the battery can berecharged.

A power controller 210 can monitor the system for various system events.At various times the power controller 210 wakes up the desiredcomponents to properly respond to the events. If the event concerns theavailability of a communication link to upload the buffered informationin the nonvolatile memory 205, then memory device and the communicationelement 207 are activated and information transfer is performed. If theevent concerns the opening or closing of the cap 104, the powercontroller 210 wakes up the sequence of components to perform thedesired tasks, e.g., capture and store an image, time stamp the event,etc. The power controller 210 puts those components which are no longerneeded back to sleep or into another low power state.

In one embodiment, the controller 202 includes a microcontroller, thenonvolatile memory 205 includes a Flash Memory, the volatile memory 206includes a Static Random Access Memory Integrated Circuit (SRAM IC), thecommunication element 207 includes a Bluetooth System On Chip (SoC), thecamera 203 includes a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)camera, the dataflow manager 204 includes a Complex Programmable LogicDevice (CPLD), the scale 116 can include a strain gauge or aforce-sensitive resistor (FSR), etc., and the power source 201 includesa rechargeable battery, e.g., a Lithium-Polymer battery. The circuit 106can implement a system-on-board designed to manage, process and/oranalyze data produced by the image sensor. A customized memorycontroller can be implemented in the CPLD. The CPLD coordinates highspeed data movement between the image sensor and the storage buffer.

In the multi-layer board configuration, the bottle facing layer caninclude the camera 203, controller 202, dataflow manager 204, volatilememory 206, and non-volatile memory 205. The cap facing layer caninclude the communication element 207, power source 201, and peripheralcircuit elements, e.g., voltage regulators. An interface between the twolayers a, b in the form of a connector, e.g., a 12 pin connector,electrically connects the two layers a, b, to allow for the transmissionof data and power, etc. between the two layers a, b. The layers canutilize both sides of the PCBs for components.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example system 300 for transferringimage, weight and other data to and/or from the containers 100A-N. Thephysical system can include two levels, e.g., a device network 301 andthe backend 302. The device network 301 can include multiple containers100A-N, or other smart bottles, smart trays, etc. Information can beconveyed between containers 100A-N, between the device network 301 andthe backend 302, and/or between the communication device 112, servers114, etc. on the backend 302, using wired and/or wireless communication,e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, e.g., 3G/4G, universal serial bus(USB), Ethernet, etc.

The device network 301 includes containers 100A-100N, e.g., the bottle102 with the removable cap 104 described herein. The containers 100A-Ncan communicate with each other wirelessly and/or by wire. Thecontainers 100A-N can also communicate with an external device, e.g.,communication device 112, including a smart phone, a laptop, a tablet, acomputer, a router, etc. The backend 302 includes communication device112, a wide area network (WAN), e.g., the Internet, local area networks(LANs), and/or servers 114, etc. In one implementation, the informationfrom the containers 100A-N is forwarded to the communication device 112,which then sends the information to the servers 114 using Bluetooth,Wi-Fi, 3G/4G, USB, Ethernet, etc. Additionally or alternatively, thecontainers 100A-N can send the information directly to the servers 114using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G/4G, USB, Ethernet, etc.

When the container 100A-N is opened and closed, and a picture is takenand the weight measured, the image and weight information are ready forprocessing. When the container 100A-N is able to establish a connectionwith the backend 302, then the captured information can be forwarded andfurther analyzed at the backend 302. Relevant information can then besent back to the container 100A-N for further action. For example, ifthe weight has not changed sufficiently, an alert could be issued to theuser indicating that he has forgotten to take the medication.Alternatively, if the bottle contained one content, but now containsanother, the user can be notified that the wrong content may becontained in the bottle, or the cap placed on the wrong bottle and/ormixed up his pills. Such notifications could be delivered via thecommunication device 112, and/or via feedback mechanisms, e.g. lights,vibration, sound, etc. located on the container 100A-N itself.

If a connection cannot be established, the image and weight information,along with a timestamp, is buffered on the container 100A-N until aconnection is established. In one example, there is enough memory tolast a duration of the prescription. During the disconnected state, thecontainer 100A-N can still issue reminders and alerts, e.g., using abuilt-in clock. At the backend 302, servers 114, images, weights, andcorresponding timestamps can be stored in a database for each user. Thisinformation is made available, e.g., through a website application 308of the frontend 306. For a patient or caregiver, information can beavailable for individual persons. For a doctor, information can beavailable for all of his patients. For a pharmacy, relevant informationcan be available for their clients. The information can also beavailable to users through the communication device 112, e.g., in theform of an application 307. The application 307 can be used to monitorinformation like the website application 308, and can also issue alertsand notifications like the container 100A-N. This adds redundancy toboth systems to help maximize a probability of adherence to themedication regimen.

Therefore, the systems and methods described herein can help assureadherence with as little burden as possible. For example, if the userswitches caps on pill bottles or pills are put in different containerswithin a set of container trays, etc., the system can automaticallyadjust to maintain the medication regimen seamlessly. Additionally oralternatively, upon getting a refill of a medication, or a newmedication altogether, the user does not have to worry about whichbottle he places the new pills in. The camera 203 enables the system torecognize the true contents, and the regimen assigned to that cap 104gets updated to reflect the contents of the bottle 102. The user doesnot have to switch the caps 104 back, as the system can beself-adjusting. The containers 100A-N can be battery operated, withenough battery life to insure that no battery change has to be providedfor a duration of a given medication's prescription, e.g., before arefill, when the battery can be changed by the pharmacy. Additionally oralternatively, the battery can be rechargeable, e.g., with chargingcircuitry 213 integrated in to the container 100. The charging circuitry213 can connect with a power source using wired and/or wirelessconnections, e.g., a USB and/or a wireless charging platform. If noconnection can be established for information transfer, the informationis buffered, e.g., by the nonvolatile memory 205, until the connectioncan be established again. The transmission and other hardware isembedded in the container 100A-N, so the system is portable, and it doesnot rely on any peripherals for operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example process for using the container 100.The process includes the circuit 106 that can be used to track a bottleusage based on the trigger events, e.g., open/close events. The circuit106 can be sized to fit a standard bottle cap used to dispensemedication from a pharmacy. Upon detecting a trigger event, the circuit106 generates a signature with information, e.g., that the triggeringevent occurred, a time that the triggering event occurred, a weight ofthe content 110 of the bottle 102, an image of the content 110 of thebottle, etc. (400). The information is collected, e.g., imageinformation from the camera 203, weight information from the scale 116,time stamp information from the controller 202, etc. (402). Thecontroller can be connected with a clock and/or counter to determine thetime stamp information.

One example of the trigger event is that the container 100 is opened orclosed. Upon the detection of cap closed event, the camera 203 isactivated to capture the image of the bottle content 110 as observedfrom its view. The image can be first stored in an image buffer, e.g.,the volatile memory 206, and then transferred to a non-volatile memory205 (404). Then, the communication element 207, e.g. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,3G/4G, USB, Ethernet, etc., searches for the communication device 112,e.g., smartphone, tablet, computer, etc. If the communication element207 does not find a device within range, the search can be stopped. Thesearch can be reinitiated on a periodic basis, e.g., every 10 minutes.When a connection is established between the bottle 102 and thecommunication device 112, the communication element 207 transmits thestored information to the communication device 112 (406). Transmittedinformation includes a source identifier, a time stamp, the image, theweight, etc. The communication device 112 can then forward theinformation to the server 114. Additionally or alternatively, thecontainer 100 can directly forward the information to the server 114.The server 114 can store the incoming data organized according to thetransmitted information, e.g., source, time, and images, etc. This datacan then be accessed for further record keeping and/or analysis.

The circuit can operate in two modes: (i) non-networked and (ii)networked. In the non-networked mode the container 100 does notcommunicate with a secondary unit. In the networked mode, informationcan be sent to the communication device 112, e.g., smartphone, laptop,etc., after the communication element 207 establishes a secureconnection. The communication device 112 may be programmed to processthe received data itself, and/or the communication device 112 mayforward the acquired data to the server 114. In either the non-networkedor networked mode, a buzzer or LED can used to create an auditory orvisual alarm when a trigger event has not occurred for a determinedamount of time (408). The alarm can be programmed into the controller202 based on a determined expected frequency of access to the medicationinside the pill bottle. Alarms can be generated through sound, light,and/or a message sent to a known destination, e.g., the user'ssmartphone, tablet, computer, etc.

The container 100 can be kept in a sleep state until there is aninterrupt, e.g., detected opening or closing of the cap 104 (410). Inthe sleep state, all unnecessary powered elements can be shut off whennot in use. For example, each subsystem is turned on only for itsnecessary operation, e.g., the camera 203 and volatile memory 206 isturned on to take and buffer an image. Then, the camera 203 turns offwhile the image is stored in non-volatile memory 205. Subsequently, thevolatile memory 206 turns off and the communication element 207 turns onto transfer the image. Followed by the communication element 207 turningoff and the controller 202 going into sleep mode, only waking up for anexternal trigger, e.g., the cap removal event. The cap removal event canbe detected, for example, by a Hall sensor 211. Power management can beregulated by the controller 202 through a power-gating approach.

The systems and methods described above may be implemented in manydifferent ways in many different combinations of hardware, softwarefirmware, or any combination thereof. In one example, the systems andmethods can be implemented with a processor and a memory, where thememory stores instructions, which when executed by the processor, causesthe processor to perform the systems and methods. The processor may meanany type of circuit such as, but not limited to, a microprocessor, amicrocontroller, a graphics processor, a digital signal processor, oranother processor. The processor may also be implemented with discretelogic or components, or a combination of other types of analog ordigital circuitry, combined on a single integrated circuit ordistributed among multiple integrated circuits. All or part of the logicdescribed above may be implemented as instructions for execution by theprocessor, controller, or other processing device and may be stored in atangible or non-transitory machine-readable or computer-readable mediumsuch as flash memory, random access memory (RAM) or read only memory(ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) or othermachine-readable medium such as a compact disc read only memory (CDROM),or magnetic or optical disk. A product, such as a computer programproduct, may include a storage medium and computer readable instructionsstored on the medium, which when executed in an endpoint, computersystem, or other device, cause the device to perform operationsaccording to any of the description above. The memory can be implementedwith one or more hard drives, and/or one or more drives that handleremovable media, such as diskettes, compact disks (CDs), digital videodisks (DVDs), flash memory keys, and other removable media.

The processing capability of the system may be distributed amongmultiple system components, such as among multiple processors andmemories, optionally including multiple distributed processing systems.Parameters, databases, and other data structures may be separatelystored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory ordatabase, may be logically and physically organized in many differentways, and may be implemented in many ways, including data structuressuch as linked lists, hash tables, or implicit storage mechanisms.Programs may be parts (e.g., subroutines) of a single program, separateprograms, distributed across several memories and processors, orimplemented in many different ways, such as in a library, such as ashared library (e.g., a dynamic link library (DLL)). The DLL, forexample, may store code that performs any of the system processingdescribed above.

As an example, the systems and methods can include the followingcomponents. More or less, and other, components may be used. An OV2640camera module 203, which captures a 640×480 pixel image, controlled byan Atmel ARM microcontroller (ATSAM4S8B) 202, which also has anintegrated real-time clock 212. The system can determine when the cap104 is opened using a Hall sensor (A1202UA) 211 and magnets in the wall103 of the bottle 102. After capture, the image can be transferred intoa Macronix International Flash memory chip (MX25L3206E) 205. TheBluetooth 207, an AckME Bobcat System on a Chip (AMS001), establishes aconnection with the user's communication device 112. There is also thescale 116, along with the inertial measurement unit 214 (e.g.,MPU-6050). When the inertial measurement unit 214 detects that thebottle 102 is upright and stationary, a weight measurement is taken.There is charging circuitry 213, which includes a USB charging port andan inductive charging coil for wireless charging.

While various embodiments have been described, it can be apparent thatmany more embodiments and implementations are possible. Accordingly, theembodiments are not to be restricted.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for communicating data frommedicine containers, comprising: detecting a triggering event, by acontroller of at least one medicine container among a plurality ofmedicine containers, that a cap of the at least one medicine containerbeing opened; collecting respective information of a change in contentquantity which indicates either a usage or a refilling of content withinthe at least one medicine container; and detecting, by an inertialmeasurement unit connected with the controller, to ensure that the atleast one medicine container is located in an upright position beforethe collected respective information of the change in content quantitywithin the at least one medicine container is considered.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the respective collecting information of the changein content quantity within the at least one medicine containercomprising one or both of: measuring a change in weight of the contentwith a scale which is connected with the controller; and taking an imageof the content of the medicine container with an image sensor which isconnected with the controller.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thecontent in each of the plurality of medicine containers is differentfrom one another, wherein the content exists in a form of: tablets orliquid.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting by acommunication element through a wired or a wireless network connection,the respective information of the change in content quantity between theat least one medicine container with: one or more other medicinecontainers among the plurality of medicine containers; or an externaldevice comprising one of: a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet, aserver, a router, a desktop computer.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinthe wireless network connection comprising connecting to one of: a widearea network, a local area network, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and thewired network connection comprising a Universal Serial Bus connection.6. The method of claim 4, comprising temporarily storing the respectivechange in weight or the image of the content into one or a combinationof: a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory until a connection tothe wired or wireless network becomes available.
 7. The method of claim4, wherein the controller, the scale, the image sensor, the memory andthe communication element are located on a printed circuit board.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the printed circuit board is sized to fit inthe cap of the medicine container.
 9. The method of claim 7, where theprinted circuit board includes separate layers electrically connectedtogether.
 10. The method of claim 7, where the controller includes apower controller, the power controller configured to put a circuitcomponent in sleep or low power state when not in use.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, comprising configuring the power controller to turn on thecircuit component when the cap of the medicine container is opened orclosed.
 12. A system, comprising: a plurality of medicine containerseach configured to contain a content; wherein for each respectivemedicine container in the plurality of medicine containers, comprising:a controller configured to detect a triggering event that a cap of arespective medicine container being opened, and to collect informationof a change in content quantity which indicates either a usage or arefilling of content within the respective medicine container; and aninertial measurement unit connected with the controller, the inertialmeasurement unit configured to detect and to ensure that the respectivemedicine container is located in an upright position before thecollected information of the change in content quantity within therespective medicine container is considered.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein the controller of the respective medicine container detects thechange in content quantity through connecting with one or both of: ascale to measure a change in weight of the content: an image sensor totake an image of the content of the medicine container.
 14. The systemof claim 12, wherein the content in each of the plurality of medicinecontainers is different from one another, wherein the content exists ina form of: tablets or liquid.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein therespective medicine container further comprises a communication elementto transmit through a wired or a wireless network connection, therespective information of the change in content quantity between therespective medicine container with: one or more other medicinecontainers among the plurality of medicine containers; or an externaldevice comprising one of: a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet, aserver, a router, a desktop computer.
 16. The system of claim 15,wherein the wireless network connection comprising connecting to one of:a wide area network, a local area network, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet,and the wired network connection comprising a Universal Serial Busconnection.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the respective medicinecontainer temporarily stores the respective change in weight or theimage of the content into one or a combination of: a volatile memory anda non-volatile memory until a connection to the wired or wirelessnetwork becomes available.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein thecontroller, the scale, the image sensor, the memory and thecommunication element are located on a printed circuit board.
 19. Thesystem of claim 18, wherein the printed circuit board is sized to fit inthe cap of the medicine container.
 20. The system of claim 18, whereinthe printed circuit board includes separate layers electricallyconnected together.
 21. The system of claim 18, wherein the controllerincludes a power controller, the power controller configured to put acircuit component in sleep or low power state when not in use.
 22. Thesystem of claim 21, wherein the power controller turns on the circuitcomponent when the cap of the medicine container is opened or closed.